Owen Noel Newton Fernando

Metazoa Ludens: Mixed-Reality Interaction and Play for Small Pets and Humans

Although animals and pets are so important for families and society, in modern urban lifestyles, we can only spend little time with our animal friends. Interactive media should be aimed to enhance not only human-to-human communication but also human-to-animal communication. Thus, we promote a new type of interspecies media interaction which allows human users to interact and play with their small pet friends (in this case, hamsters) remotely via the Internet through a mixed-reality-based game system “Metazoa Ludens.” We used a two-pronged approach to scientifically examine the system. First, and most importantly, the body condition score study was conducted to evaluate the positive effects to the hamsters. Second, the method of Duncan was used to assess the strength of preference of the hamsters toward Metazoa Ludens. Lastly, the effectiveness of this remote interaction with respect to the human users as an interactive gaming system with their pets/friends (hamster) was examined based on Csikszentmihalyis Flow theory. Results of both studies inform of positive remote interaction between human users and their pet friends using our research system. This research is not only just aimed at providing specific experimental results on the implemented research system but is also aimed as a wider lesson for human-to-animal interactive media. Therefore, as an addition, we present a detailed framework suited in general for human-to-animal interaction systems inferred from the lessons learned.

Empathetic living media

We describe a new form of interactive living media used to communicate social or ecological information in the form of an empathetic ambient media. In the fast paced modern world people are generally too busy to monitor various significant social or human aspects of their lives, such as time spent with their family, their overall health, state of the ecology, etc. By quantifying such information digitally, information is semantically coupled into living microorganisms, E. coli. Through the use of transformed DNA, the E. coli will then glow or dim according to the data. The core technical innovation of this system is the development of an information system based on a closed-loop control system through which digital input is able to control input fluids to the E. coli, and thereby control the output glow of the E. coli in real time. Thus, social or ecological based information is coupled into a living and organic media through this control system capsule and provides a living media which promotes empathy. We provide user design and feedback results to verify the validity of our hypothesis, and provide not only system results but generalized design frameworks for empathetic living media in general.

AmbiKraf: an embedded non-emissive and fast changing wearable display

AmbiKraf is a novel non-emissive analog fabric display that has rapid color changing capability. It is integrated into the soft fabric enabling novel animations and interactive scenarios in the normal clothes that we wear. The core novelty of this project lies within the actual implementation of a fabric embedded with Peltier junction semiconductor to form a robust and wearable fabric display. In addition, our key novelties extend to its fast, accurate and bidirectional control through in-fabric semiconductor based heating and cooling systems. This enables the capability of displaying animations and facilitating many interaction scenarios through everyday clothes.

Huggy pajama: a parent and child hugging communication system

Huggy Pajama is a novel wearable system aimed at promoting physical interaction in remote communication between parent and child. This system enables parents and children to hug one another through a novel hugging interface device and a wearable, hug reproducing pajama connected through the Internet. The hugging device is a small, mobile doll with an embedded pressure sensing circuit that is able to accurately sense varying levels of the range of human force produced from natural touch. This device sends hug signals to a haptic jacket that simulates the feeling of being hugged to the wearer. It features air pressure actuation to reproduce hug.

Low cost infant monitoring and communication system

This paper proposes a low-cost, mobile-based monitoring and advisory system that continuously monitors the baby and remotely updates the mother on child status. This technology involves continuous measuring of the temperature, heart rate and motion and send it to a server where the data is processed. The server analyzes the received data and sends the processed biological information of the baby to the mother and generates an alert system if the conditions of the baby are found abnormal. These alert messages are transmitted to support systems and nearby health clinics in emergency situations. Also, advisory first-aid information is sent to the mother in order to take immediate action. Thus, this ubiquitous system would enhance mothers awareness of their baby health status.

Kawaii/Cute interactive media

Cuteness in interactive systems is a relatively new development yet has its roots in the aesthetics of many historical and cultural elements. Symbols of cuteness abound in nature as in the creatures of neotenous proportions: drawing in the care and concern of the parent and the care from a protector. We provide an in-depth look at the role of cuteness in interactive systems beginning with a history. We particularly focus on the Japanese culture of Kawaii, which has made large impact around the world, especially in entertainment, fashion, and animation. We then take the approach of defining cuteness in contemporary popular perception. User studies are presented offering an in-depth understanding of key perceptual elements, which are identified as cute. This knowledge provides for the possibility to create a cute filter that can transform inputs and automatically create more cute outputs. This paper also provides an insight into the next generation of interactive systems that bring happiness and comfort to users of all ages and cultures through the soft power of cute.

A Multiuser Multiperspective Stereographic QTVR Browser Complemented by Java3D Visualizer and Emulator

To support multiperspective and stereographic image display systems intended for multiuser applications, we have developed two integrated multiuser multiperspective stereographic browsers, respectively featuring IBR-generated egocentric and CG exocentric perspectives. The first one described, VR4U2C (virtual reality for you to see), uses Apples QuickTime VR technology and the Java programming language together with the support of the QuickTime for Java library. This unique QTVR browser allows coordinated display of multiple views of a scene or object, limited only by the size and number of monitors or projectors assembled around or among users (for panoramas or turnoramas) in various viewing locations. The browser also provides a novel solution to limitations associated with display of QTVR imagery: its multinode feature provides interactive stereographic QTVR (dubbed SQTVR) to display dynamically selected pairs of images exhibiting binocular parallax, the stereoscopic depth percept enhanced by motion parallax from displacement of the viewpoint through space coupled with rotation of the view through a 360 horizontal panorama. This navigable approach to SQTVR allows proper occlusion/disocclusion as the virtual standpoint shifts, as well as natural looming of closer objects compared to more distant ones. We have integrated this stereographic panoramic browsing application in a client/server architecture with a sibling client, named Just Look at Yourself! which is built with Java3D and allows realtime visualization of the dollying and viewpoint adjustment as well as juxtaposition and combination of stereographic CG and IBR displays. Just Look at Yourself! visualizes and emulates VR4U2C, embedding avatars associated with cylinder pairs wrapped around the stereo standpoints texture-mapped with a set of panoramic scenes into a 3D CG model of the same space as that captured by the set of panoramas. The transparency of the 3D CG polygon space and the photorealistic stereographic 360 scenes, as well as the size of the stereo goggles through which the CG space is conceptually viewed and upon which the 360 scenes are texture-mapped, can be adjusted at runtime to understand the relationship of the spaces.

Ubiquitous shortcuts: mnemonics by just taking photos

Ubiquitous Shortcuts is an image processing based method for making and using mnemonics set onto the real world using smartphones or other computing systems. The mnemonics can be created by taking photos of the users vicinity and by binding them onto command sequences. The mnemonic is triggered every time a similar photo is taken. Our method uses natural feature matching algorithms and end-user programming approaches. The mnemonics can be concatenated into more complex command sequences. Thus, limited user input is realized by just taking photos with a camera embedded into a finger-ring, which enables rapid, subtle and socially acceptable user interaction. Our method can be used as semi-automatic way of achieving location and context sensitive services, activity recognition or tangible interaction.

CULTURAL ROBOTICS: The Culture of Robotics and Robotics in Culture

In this paper, we have investigated the concept of “Cultural Robotics” with regard to the evolution of social into cultural robots in the 21st Century. By defining the concept of culture, the potential development of a culture between humans and robots is explored. Based on the cultural values of the robotics developers, and the learning ability of current robots, cultural attributes in this regard are in the process of being formed, which would define the new concept of cultural robotics. According to the importance of the embodiment of robots in the sense of presence, the influence of robots in communication culture is anticipated. The sustainability of robotics culture based on diversity for cultural communities for various acceptance modalities is explored in order to anticipate the creation of different attributes of culture between robots and humans in the future.

Flexible, non-emissive textile display

This paper describes current progress in the implementation of flexible ubiquitous textile display. We use thermochromic inks and miniature peltier semiconductor elements to create a non-emissive textile display. Here we present some of the initial work into the use of custom made miniature peltier elements. We describe some of the early works into the integration of this technology into the fabric to present a flexible non-emissive display.